There are several key features that every blog should posses. I am going to outline some key elements that every blog must have:

Strong Engaging Posts

1. Quality on page SEO – Optimized Titles, URLs, Headers and Content.
2. A theme – your content and overall look and feel of your blog should all be around a similar topic. If you want to talk about your cat or how you helped an old lady cross the street, while that is very sweet of you, …um I don’t think anyone cares to follow that except a few of your close friends and family or unless you are a celebrity in which case you can even write about your bowel movement and people will still follow you.
3. Write posts that draw in your audience and will get them to share your content. Writing information that is helpful will do that for you. “How To” posts are a great place to start.
4. Post at least weekly and if possible twice a week.
5. Pose questions at the end of your posts to encourage engagement and feedback.
6. If you have a successful post follow it up immediately by posting another strong article.

Easy Sign up/Call to Action

1. Give people the optionto sign up via RSS. You want to have that sign up above the fold
2. Also give people the option to sign up via email. It’s old school but people still use it.
3. Show people where else they can find you. While that may mean that they read your content elsewhere my school of thought is that they are at least still following what you write and will still share your content.

An Information “About” Section

1. Make available a snippet of information through a sidebar or at least on your home page that gives your readers a glimpse as to the human side of your blog.
2. Also have a full blown about page. This page can be developed over time and should be a kick ass glimpse at what makes you, you, and what your blog is all about.

Feature this…

1. Highlight you best blog posts. Trying to find ways to keep people on your site? Give them easy access to your most popular posts.
2. Find some cool wordpress plugins that sensible and work for what you offer. Here are some wordpress plugins that I think are key.
3. Write up a post about someone else.
4. Look for new ways to attract people to your site that will hopefully also serve as link bait.

Set Goals

1. Whether your are setting goals for your social media strategy or your overall blog…have them be concrete and realistic.
2. If you are trying to promote your services or you are selling something then track your leads.
3. Consider getting comments as a possible goal/conversion measure.

A strong blog doesn’t happen overnight. You know the saying Rome wasn’t built…neither will your blog. For a lot of people it takes some time to find their voice. Once you do…keep at it.

What are some key elements that you employ on your blog? Anything you think that this list definitely should have?

Are you wondering if what you write is in some way a total turn off to people? You are not alone, many of us do… Wondering whether what we write or do has any effect at all?

Well, here are some tips on what to do and what not to do.

Blogging best practices:

• Keep it simple. Don’t overwhelm your readers with an anthology. Short and sweet will do.
• Communicate regularly, weekly at least.
• Communicate through various mediums. It’s good for people to see you on other trusted sites.
• Thank people!
• Do something without expecting anything in return.
• Link to other sites.
• Solicit feedback.
• Offer information that your readers want to hear. Something that benefits them.
• Leave comments on other blogs without mentioning your business. This is a great piece of advice from pro-blogger Chris Brogan, who says

If your post is about a specific industry or relates to other great blogs, find a recent blog post that has related information. (Now, this is different than what you MIGHT normally do, so pay attention). In the URL part of the sign-up form, put the link to your post, not your blog in general. In the comment body, don’t talk about your amazing post. Just offer genuine commentary on the post you read, and share your thoughts and ideas. Repeat: don’t mention the post. (If your comment is great and worthy, people will click through and check it out.)

Nine Ways to Promote Your Blog Posts, Aug 2008

Here are some thing you may not want to do, as they indeed may turn off some readers. You should try to keep the following in mind.

What not to do:

• Don’t talk only about yourself or your products.
• Don’t write about the same thing over and over without changing the theme or message. People will get bored, and/or think you are a spammer and tune you out.
• On that note, don’t spam.
• Don’t bash other people or companies. It’s not nice. Remember, if you don’t have anything nice to say then you might as well not say anything at all.
• Don’t use bad humor and don’t be “un-PC” in bad taste.
• Don’t mislead your readers.

While it’s still fun and ok to show a personality, everyone does appreciate a welcoming and professional atmosphere. The more you follow these tips, the more people will come to trust and respect what you have to say. Trust is a huge factor in whether or not people will follow you. Just like any basic relationship, you don’t start out being trusted, you have to earn that trust. Assume that people know nothing about you. Establish yourself as an authority on a subject, without bashing your readers over the head with it.

Hope this helps. If there is anything that I forgot to mention or you think is an absolute must, then please do let me know.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Tired of Talking to Yourself? Go Visit Other Blogs, Leave Quality Comments and Links (growmap.com)
• My Policy on User Comments (docshazam.com)
• The Subtle Art of Linkbaiting (chrisbrogan.com)
• 9 great blogs I enjoy reading & find inspirational . . . (digital-constructions.com)
• Blogging about Blogging: Round Up of Posts (buildabetterblog.com)